Negotiations collective labor agreement for universities of applied sciences: unions are committed to retaining purchasing power
The unions and the employers' organization exchanged their collective labor agreements this afternoon. The AObnegotiators are focusing on, among other things, retaining purchasing power for HBO employees, income insurance for colleagues with long covid and clearer job evaluation.
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“We are going for purchasing power retention, the employees in lower scales have difficulty making ends meet,” says AObdirector Douwe van der Zweep. The exchange marks the start of the new negotiation process for a new collective labor agreement. The current collective labor agreement expires April 1, 2023.
Loon
The wage demand from the unions boils down to purchasing power retention for higher vocational education employees. In the future, the unions want to make an agreement that wages will automatically rise in line with prices. In this round, the wage demand is 14 percent, which corresponds to the annual inflation for the period October 2021 to October 2022. “Inflation was significant, we want compensation for the higher costs,” says AObsector director Huub de Heiden who is sitting at the collective labor agreement table. In addition, the universities of applied sciences must increase their amounts for commuting, business trips and a minimum amount for days spent working from home.
In this round, the wage demand is 14 percent, which corresponds to the annual inflation between October 2021 and 2022
Scaling
Another big point in the stakes is the assessment of colleagues. In practice, the differences between universities of applied sciences and colleagues are disproportionately large. The unions therefore believe that better enforceable agreements should be included in the collective labor agreement. “The downgrading of teaching staff must stop,” says Van der Zweep. That is why there must be positions in which the distinction between a lecturer in scales 11 and 12 is clear and rules are introduced on how you can automatically move on to a higher position. Scale 11 should also be the lowest scale for teachers, scale 10 is not appropriate.
lung covid
Appropriate insurance to protect the income of colleagues with lung covid is for the AOb also an important point in the stakes. The union has been calling for appropriate measures for this group of people for some time now and therefore wants all higher vocational education employers to take out disability insurance for the staff so that they do not suffer a loss of income in the event of illness.
Work pressure and social safety
Work pressure remains a major theme in higher professional education. The negotiators want the universities of applied sciences to make good arrangements for starters, older colleagues and the middle groups. For example, the union wants the HBO employees to be given 200 hours of 'free space' - in proportion to their employment - to provide more freedom.
De AOb also deploys an external ombudsman at universities of applied sciences to ensure a safe working environment. Employees can then report there - without fear of repercussions - if safety is at stake. The ombudsman then conducts an investigation and looks at what measures universities of applied sciences can take to improve the work situation.
Also want the AObnegotiators that the agreements on vitality are implemented. This concerns agreements for employees in different age groups to keep up with their work.
You will find the entire collective labor agreement of the unions in this appendix. You will also find in the appendix the technical points that the unions want to have adjusted. The employers have also announced their commitment: read the commitment of de Association of Universities of Applied Sciences through this link.
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